The internet’s dominant surveillance infrastructure — created by Wesley Chan and David Friedberg at Google in 2005 — whose two creators went on to invest in Sam Altman’s pharmaceutical network (Chan → FPV → Formation Bio) and advise the Trump administration on science policy (Friedberg → PCAST), while co-hosting the most influential tech podcast with the White House AI czar.
What It Is
Google Analytics is a free web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. It is the most widely used web analytics tool in the world, installed on approximately 55% of all websites. The product works by embedding a small JavaScript tracking code on every page of a website. When a visitor loads a page, the code sends data to Google’s servers recording: the visitor’s location, device, browser, referral source, pages viewed, time spent, actions taken, demographic profile, and conversion behavior. [1][2]
Google Analytics is not a subsidiary, a department, or a standalone company. It is a product within Google’s advertising ecosystem — specifically, the data collection infrastructure that feeds Google Ads (formerly AdWords). Google provides Analytics for free because the behavioral data it collects across millions of websites is worth far more than subscription fees. The product gives Google visibility into how the entire internet’s traffic behaves — not just traffic on Google’s own properties. [1][2]
The “UTM” parameters visible in URLs across the internet (?utm_source=, ?utm_medium=, ?utm_campaign=) stand for Urchin Tracking Module — named after the original company Google acquired to create Analytics. Twenty years later, the entire internet’s marketing attribution system still carries the name of a San Diego startup that was acquired for an undisclosed sum. [3]
Origin Story
Google Analytics was not built internally. It was acquired.
Urchin Software Corporation was founded in 1995 in San Diego by Scott Crosby, Brett Crosby, Paul Muret, and Jack Ancone — originally as Quantified Systems, a web hosting and design firm. By 1997, Paul Muret had developed the first version of Urchin, a web analytics tool that could process a full day of website data in 15 minutes (competitors took a full day). By 2004, Urchin 6 was the most popular web analytics tool on the market, selling for $500/month. Early customers included Honda, EarthLink, Rackspace, and the US Defense Department. [2][4][5]
In 2004, at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, two Google employees — Wesley Chan and David Friedberg — met the Urchin team and recognized the strategic value. Google acquired Urchin in April 2005 (financial terms undisclosed; early investors reportedly saw ~100x returns). In November 2005, Google relaunched the technology as Google Analytics and made it completely free — destroying the entire paid web analytics industry overnight. [2][4][5]
The Two Creators — Where Are They Now
The two Google employees who identified Urchin and drove the acquisition have both become significant figures in the Altman network investigation:
Wesley Chan → FPV Ventures → Formation Bio
| Period | Role | Network Connection |
|---|---|---|
| 2004-2005 | Google employee — identified Urchin, drove acquisition | Created Google Analytics |
| ~2010-2022 | Partner, Felicis Ventures | Invested in TrialSpark Oct 2018 venture round + Sep 2021 Series C ($156M, Altman-led) |
| 2022-present | Co-founder & Managing Partner, FPV Ventures ($450M) | Invested in Formation Bio Jun 2024 Series D ($372M, a16z-led) |
Chan has maintained continuous personal investment exposure to TrialSpark/Formation Bio across two different funds over six years — the only investor to do so. His Google Analytics background (data infrastructure at planetary scale) maps directly onto Formation Bio’s model (clinical trial data infrastructure at pharma scale). See: FPV Ventures profile.
David Friedberg → The Production Board → PCAST → All-In Podcast
| Period | Role | Network Connection |
|---|---|---|
| 2004-2005 | Google employee — co-identified Urchin with Chan | Created Google Analytics |
| 2006-2013 | Founded The Climate Corporation | Sold to Monsanto for ~$1 billion |
| 2015-present | Founder, The Production Board (TPB) | Investment vehicle. Portfolio: Culture Biosciences (biotech), Ohalo Genetics (plant breeding), Soylent, Pattern Ag. Biotech overlap with Formation Bio. |
| 2020-present | Co-host, All-In Podcast | Co-hosts with David Sacks (Trump AI/Crypto czar), Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis. Most influential tech podcast — regularly discusses OpenAI, Anthropic, AI policy. |
| 2025-present | Member, PCAST (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology) | Advises Trump administration on science and technology policy — alongside Sacks. |
The PCAST appointment is the find. Friedberg now advises the President on science and technology policy. His co-host Sacks is the White House AI/Crypto czar. His former Google colleague Chan is invested in Formation Bio. The two people who built Google’s web surveillance infrastructure are now: (a) funding the Altman network’s pharmaceutical arm and (b) advising the President on whether to regulate it.
How Google Analytics Connects to the Investigation
The Architectural Pattern
Google Analytics and Formation Bio share the same business architecture:
| Dimension | Google Analytics | Formation Bio (TrialSpark) |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Free/low-cost web analytics platform | Clinical trial platform for community physicians |
| Data collected | Website visitor behavior across the internet | Patient recruitment, enrollment, trial outcomes across distributed sites |
| Who provides data | Website owners install tracking code | Physicians enroll patients and report outcomes |
| Value of data | Feeds Google’s $200B+ advertising business | Feeds Formation Bio’s drug development + AI models (Muse) |
| Business model | Give away the analytics tool → collect the data → monetize through ads | Provide the trial platform → collect the clinical data → monetize through drug licensing (€545M Sanofi deal) |
| Scale advantage | Network effects — more sites → more data → better targeting → more sites | Network effects — more physicians → more patients → better recruitment → more pharma sponsors |
Chan built the first version of this architecture at Google. He then invested in the pharmaceutical version of the same architecture at TrialSpark/Formation Bio. The investment thesis is literally “Google Analytics, but for clinical trials.”
The Data Surveillance Continuum
Google Analytics tracks what people do on websites. Formation Bio’s clinical trial platform tracks what happens to people’s health in drug trials. Both are data collection infrastructures that provide value to the platform (Google’s ad revenue / Formation Bio’s drug licensing) beyond what they provide to the users who generate the data (website owners / physicians and patients).
The person who built the internet’s behavioral surveillance infrastructure (Chan) invested in the pharmaceutical industry’s clinical data infrastructure (Formation Bio). The person who co-built that same surveillance infrastructure (Friedberg) now advises the President on science and technology policy that governs both.
The All-In Podcast as Media Infrastructure
The All-In Podcast (launched March 2020 — same month as Project Covalence’s planning phase) is co-hosted by four venture capitalists:
| Host | Primary Role | Network Connection |
|---|---|---|
| David Friedberg | TPB founder, PCAST member | Co-created Google Analytics with Chan. Biotech investor. Now advises Trump on science policy. |
| David Sacks | Craft Ventures | White House AI and Crypto czar. PayPal Mafia. Sets AI policy that governs OpenAI, Formation Bio, and every AI company. |
| Chamath Palihapitiya | Social Capital | Early Facebook executive. SPAC pioneer (took Virgin Galactic public). Former OpenAI investor discussions. |
| Jason Calacanis | Launch Fund | Early Uber investor. Angel investor in 200+ companies. Previously managed the LAUNCH accelerator — YC competitor. |
The podcast regularly discusses OpenAI, Anthropic, AI regulation, and tech policy — topics where two of the four hosts (Sacks as AI czar, Friedberg as PCAST member) now have direct government authority. The podcast functions as a public-facing narrative channel for the same policy positions its hosts implement in government.
This parallels the a16z media ecosystem (blog, podcast, Substack, American Dynamism) and Moritz’s SF Standard — a third node in the network’s media infrastructure, this one with two hosts who hold government positions.
Nodes / Open Questions
- Did Chan and Friedberg maintain their relationship after Google? They co-identified Urchin, co-drove the acquisition. Chan went to Felicis/FPV (Formation Bio investor). Friedberg went to TPB/PCAST (Trump science advisor). Do they still communicate, co-invest, or coordinate?
- Does The Production Board (Friedberg’s fund) have any portfolio overlap with Formation Bio? Culture Biosciences (biotech fermentation) and Pattern Ag (agricultural data analytics) operate in adjacent biotech spaces. Any shared researchers, technology, or infrastructure?
- The All-In Summit guest list: The podcast hosts an annual summit with tech leaders, investors, and policy makers. Has Altman, Liu, or anyone from Formation Bio appeared at an All-In Summit? The guest list maps the network’s social infrastructure.
- PCAST membership and pharmaceutical policy: As a PCAST member, Friedberg advises on science and technology policy that could include FDA modernization, clinical trial regulation, and AI-driven drug development — all areas that directly affect Formation Bio’s business. Does his co-creator Chan’s investment in Formation Bio create a conflict?
- Google Analytics data and clinical trial recruitment: 23andMe used genetic data to recruit for TrialSpark’s trials. Could Google Analytics data (website behavior, health content consumption patterns, demographic profiling) also be used for clinical trial recruitment targeting? If Chan brought Google Analytics-style targeting methodology to Formation Bio’s recruitment approach, the data pipeline extends from web surveillance to pharmaceutical recruitment.
- The March 2020 parallel: The All-In Podcast launched March 2020 — the same month Project Covalence’s planning phase began and Altman bought the Russian Hill mansion. The podcast, the COVID platform, and the real estate purchase all started in the same month. Coincidental timing, but documented.
Sources
- [Archive] Wikipedia — Google Analytics (most widely used web analytics, JavaScript tracking, free service): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics
- [Archive] VPodK — “Google Analytics History: Tracking the Digital Evolution” — Chan and Friedberg spotted Urchin at SES conference, acquisition April 2005, free launch November 2005: https://vpodk.com/google-analytics-evolution/
- [Archive] UTM Genius — “The Secret History of UTM” — Urchin Tracking Module, industry standard by 2005: https://utmbuildertool.com/blog/history-of-utm-urchin
- [Archive] Crunchbase Blog — “The Urchin Software Mafia: Becoming Google Analytics” — San Diego founding, Honda/DOD customers, 100x returns: https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/san-diego-tech-company-urchin
- [Archive] Tracking Garden — “Urchin – the first Google Analytics” — Chan and Friedberg at SES, $500/month, multiple competing offers: https://tracking-garden.com/knowledge/web-analytics/systems/urchin/
- [Archive] Capitaly — Friedberg net worth ($1.3B), TPB, Culture Biosciences, Ohalo Genetics, All-In Podcast: https://www.capitaly.vc/blog/david-friedberg-net-worth-in-2025-the-billionaires-journey-to-agricultural-tech-dominance
- [Archive] Amazon Music — All-In Podcast episode listing: “Sacks and Friedberg join PCAST!” — President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/79ad0c9b-27fa-461f-b72f-2d0979d4a849/all-in-with-chamath-jason-sacks-friedberg
- [Archive] Wikipedia — All-In Podcast (launched March 2020, Palihapitiya/Calacanis/Sacks/Friedberg): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-In_(podcast)
This analysis does not constitute evidence of illegal action. The opinions expressed here are the professional opinions and analytical conclusions of the author, a published corporate ethics researcher and analyst specializing in business leadership ethics, governance structures, and nonprofit compliance. Readers are encouraged to examine the primary sources cited above and draw their own conclusions.
A conflict does not become less important because it was routed through a quieter entity. It becomes more important to map.
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